Group spends $8,000 to boost support for $88.5M Bastrop school bond

Friday

A political action committee supporting an $88.5 million Bastrop school bond has spent more than $8,000 to lobby in favor of the school district’s proposal.

The Bastrop school board in August approved placing the school bond measure on the November ballot, despite voters rejecting a similar proposal last year. Officials have said the bond is needed to pay for upgrades to district facilities, reorganization of schools and boosting capacity at the growing district.

The political action committee, Vote for BISD Schools, has spent $8,044.28 since September on an open records request to the county’s elections office, political signs, election push cards, billboard advertising, digital on-screen advertising, video production and graphic design work, according to its latest campaign finance report.

The committee received a $500 contribution from the Tuck Law Group on Oct. 20, the only contribution it has received this year, according to the finance report, which tracked contributions and spending from July 1 through Oct. 28. Much of the committee’s funding has come from contributions it received last year when it was pushing a $75 million Bastrop school bond that failed with 54 percent of voters rejecting the measure.

Voters also rejected a 13-cent tax ratification last year that would have helped fund day-to-day operations at the district. That tax proposal failed with 64 percent of voters against it.

The committee received $21,750 in contributions last year, with the largest — $6,000 – coming from the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.

The committee also received $5,000 contributions from GSA Services Group and Stantec Consulting Services, and $2,500 contributions from Pfluger Associates and Martin Burger last year, according to the Ethics Commission.

GCA Services Group in 2014 won a five-year contract from the Bastrop school district for custodial, grounds and facilities maintenance and operations. Stantec Consulting Services is an architect and design firm.

Pfluger Associates was the architect for the three bond projects approved in 2007 – Cedar Creek High School, the Jerry Fay Wilhelm Performing Arts Center and Memorial Stadium. Martin Burger is the vice president of American Constructors Inc., a construction company with experience building schools, and municipal and commercial complexes.

According to the committee’s finance report, it had $5,073.54 remaining in its coffers.

While the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce has not provided a financial contribution this year to the political action committee, it’s board passed a resolution in August in support of the school bond. The chamber’s president has also emailed the organization’s membership who has participated in its We Believe in BISD initiative to ask for support for the bond, and included a telephone script and an advertisement paid for by the political action committee entitled "2017 BISD bond election facts" in her message.

In her Oct. 28 president’s report in the Advertiser, Womble said: "Our Bastrop school district students deserve to have the best experience possible and attending school in overcrowded facilities is not acceptable. The proposed district school bond addresses the projected population growth and anticipated facility needs of our district," adding that strong public schools and quality facilities is fundamental to quality of life, economic vitality for attracting new businesses and generating jobs locally.

The school district has about 10,600 students enrolled, according to the latest demographic report, and uses 52 portable buildings as classrooms due to overcrowding. The district’s student population is expected to top 13,000 by 2027, according to a demographic report by Templeton Demographics.

Opponents of the bond say it is too expensive and will increase property taxes to alarming levels on the heels of property valuation increases of 14 percent on average in Bastrop County over the past two years.

According to the school district, its property tax rate would increase from $1.44 to $1.46 per $100 valuation if the bond is approved. For the average district homeowner, with a house valued at $143,079, that translates to an extra $2.02 per month, or $24.21 on the annual tax bill, not including possible increases to property valuations next year.

Though the district did not raise its tax rate this school year, the average homeowner will pay an additional $250 in property taxes to the district next year because of rising property valuations.

In a letter to the editor, Superintendent Steve Murray said he understands residents do not look forward to a tax increase but it is their responsibility to look ahead and plan accordingly.

"The notion that if the district, the city, and the county would stop addressing growth that it will not come is a fallacy," Murray said. "We are asking voters to look at the facts relative to our growth, the maintenance and use of our existing facilities and how we can provide opportunities for our students to learn and succeed in the best possible environment and manner in the coming years."

The Bastrop school district had $163,257,565 in outstanding principal debt as of fiscal year 2016, according to the latest figures available from the Texas Bond Review Board’s website. Interest on that debt was at $138,656,033 for a total $301,913,598 owed.

The last time the district approved a bond was the $97 million package approved in 2007.

Election Day is Tuesday.

Editor’s note: This article has been amended to clarify that the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce’s president emailed the organization’s membership who has participated in the group’s We Believe in BISD initiative to ask for support for the bond. Becki Womble did not email the the organization’s whole membership.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.